Monaro green light for US

Stars and stripes: General Motors product boss Bob Lutz plans to badge the Monaro as a Pontiac and sell up to 20,000 annually.

Holden coupe gets the thumbs up for a 20003 launch in the US

By BRUCE NEWTON in Geneva 6 March 2002
BARRING last-minute hiccups, General Motors product boss Bob Lutz says the hot Holden Monaro coupe is set for US sale in 2003 badged as a Pontiac GTO.

Speaking at the Geneva motor show on Tuesday, Mr Lutz confirmed the expectation that Monaro would go to the US.

"Yes, unless we discover something terrible we really intend to do it," he said. "I think we are very close to being there really."

Only a final double-check of issues surrounding the legalisation of the car remained before the formal go signal was given, he said.

The decision is a huge victory for Holden's export program, which has already pushed into the Middle East, South America and South Africa.

Access to the US will certainly drive Holden's exports to over 50,000 in its first full year.

Considering that, it is probably no co-incidence that one of Holden's top marketers, Megan Stooke, has been promoted into the company's export manager's role.

In only two weeks since his flying visit to Australia to inspect Holden's facilities, review its operations and drive the local cars, Mr Lutz's language has changed from cautious optimism about the Monaro program going ahead to bullish confidence.

It is also only two months since he began to discuss the possibility of US sales of the Monaro and the Ute publicly. Back then, at the Detroit motor show, the possibility of Commodore to the US seemed a prospect for 2005 when the new generation VE arrives.

A vital factor in the go-ahead decision appears to be the ease of conversion to meet US regulations, much of the traditional concern centering around the position of the fuel tank behind the rear axle.

While he refused to reveal the cost of Monaro legalisation for the US, Mr Lutz was prepared to admit: "Let's put it this way, (the cost is) more than you'd like but far less than you would expect for a federalisation of a non-federalised car".

The absence of serious technical challenges means the arrival date can be pushed up.

Mr Lutz said Holden boss Peter Hanenberger's estimate that the Monaro and Ute would take two years to "federalise" was conservative.

"I would hope we would get it done quicker than that," he said.

"It's a program that has captured everybody's attention, we are all very excited about it and obviiously the Australian government likes it, and Holden likes it because they want to boost production.

"And we like it because we badly need high-performance rear-wheel drive cars, which is something we just don't have in our model line-up right now. So it solves all the problems at the same time."

The Gen III V8-engined Monaro CV8 will be sold as a Pontiac GTO, with sales forecasts put at up to 20,000 per annum.

Monaro will be pitched in terms of pricing at the premium end of the mid-price high-performance car category, and appeal to a mature audience.

The limited volume by US standards - which is constrained by capacity limits at Holden's Elizabeth plant - would help overcome any opposition from the United Auto Workers union, which has long fought substantial imports by the US big three, on the basis that it costs local workers their jobs.

"Clearly, we have to talk to the UAW and make sure they are okay with a program like that, but we are talking a niche here, potentially a low volume of cars, potentially in the 18-20,000 range," Mr Lutz said.

"So if we are talking 100,000-200,000 vehicles, then clearly there would be industrial ramifications in the US.

"But this isn't designed to replace anything we are doing in the United States, it's designed to fill a niche-vehicle need in an area of the market where we can't operate right now."

The limited volume availability has also slowed the opportunities for the Ute, which would go to the US as a new generation Chevrolet El Camino.

"With Ute we have to decide do we want to take all Monaros, or some Monaros and some Utes, because either way Holden can't give us much more than 20,000," Mr Lutz said.

* VAUXHALL managing director Kevin Wale has confirmed the UK GM subsidiary is currently working on a business case to sell Commodores in that country. Mr Wale, a former Holden executive, said a likley Commodore-based family for the UK could include a V6 Calais, V8 SS and a Monaro of some ilk - possibly the HSV GTS.

Mr Wale said the Commodore would be positioned as a luxury flagship for senior businessman looking for something different to the usual choice of executive transport.

He refused to comment on price or volume, but it is fair to suggest the former will be high and the latter pretty low. One major cost factor is the UK's CO2 emissions tax and another is just what to call them - Vauxhall, Commodore, Omega, Commodore or something else altogether.

It may not be a Vauxhall, although Mr Wales said simply selling it as a Holden Commodore would not happen.

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Con's:
Looks like a 2 door Cadillac Catera.
Needs some pizzaz in the looks department.
Not a Chevrolet.